It is a Sunday night and although I am tired my wife is trying to convince me to do something I don’t want to do. Not that I don’t want to do it, I was just thinking I would do it tomorrow after a good night’s sleep. You see, it is not just any Sunday night. My wife just threw me a wonderful surprise party for my 50th birthday, and the last guest just left. Now she is trying to get me to open all the presents that are piled on the piano in the wine room. One more time I try to convince her that I will open them tomorrow, and one more time she says, “oh come on, it won’t take long.” Of course, after all the work she put into today, how can I say no?
After opening about ⅔ of the gifts and cards, I open a card from my lovely wife. The card says something about it being my day so go wherever I want and enjoy the ride. Donna has handwritten below that a message that basically said I could not pick the “wherever” because she already chose for me and the plane leaves at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Looks like we are off on our next adventure!
Wednesday has arrived and I know nothing more than I did on Sunday when I read the card. I am not even sure what to pack, since I don’t know where we are going or what we are going to do. I ask Donna a couple of questions about things I am packing and thinking of packing. She isn’t really much help! I try to watch what she is packing and go with similar items. Our friend Kelli picks us up and takes us to the airport, she is not giving up any details either. As we arrive at the airport, I now know we are flying American Airlines as that is where we get dropped off. Once inside, I just follow Donna since I don’t know what else to do. The next thing I discover is we are flying first class, because that is the line I follow Donna into. At the kiosk, Donna blocks my view as she checks in our bags and prints the boarding passes. We hear our names being called from the counter and we head that way. The customer service agent asks to see our boarding passes and IDs, which Donna hands her. She checks them and returns them to Donna, and then the next surprise is revealed. The agent pulls out the luggage tags and as she attaches them to our bags she says, “checking two bags to Las Vegas?” Woo hoo, we are headed to Vegas. Or are we? Maybe it is a midpoint, maybe we land there before going somewhere else. Well, except, I don’t think they would tag our bags to Vegas if we were going somewhere else!
Bags all checked in, we clear security and head for our gate. I ask some questions trying to get more info, but Donna is still tight-lipped.
We find seats at our gate and sit chatting, go figure, us talking. As we are talking, I catch a glimpse of a man sitting across the aisle from us. He catches my attention due to the hat he is wearing, a Purple Heart ball cap with his Marine Corps emblem and rank insignia. Being the guy I am, I stand and take the few steps across the aisle, extend my hand and thank him for his service. The man immediately stood up and shook my hand, while saying “you must be a Marine.” I told him yes, sir, I was, 3rd battalion 5th Marines. He then shared he was Lima Company, 3rd Marines and served two tours in Vietnam, ‘68 and ‘69. Then as he began to speak again, he pulled back the collar of his shirt to reveal a scar. He said, “we were taking a hill and got into sniper fire. I took one to the neck and one to the chest.” The tears welled in my eyes as I looked at about a 5 inch scar on his neck. “They were both through and through shots,” he says. He then introduced his wife to Donna and I, and told us they were on their way to see one of their grandchildren. I asked if I could take his picture.
Once on the plane, we enjoyed our comfy seats in first class while we drank a bloody mary. The flight is so short that there isn’t much time for anything other than chugging one drink.
Donna did ask me if I had any idea where we would be staying while we were in Las Vegas. I told her not really, my first guess would be the Wynn since it is our favorite, but then we have been staying at Harrah’s lately so maybe there. She is still not spilling the beans. I don’t say anything, but in my mind I am speculating that perhaps others will be joining us? Perhaps my brother and his wife? Perhaps my parents? Perhaps our son Cody? Hmmmmm, should I ask her?
After landing in Vegas, we make our way to baggage claim and collect our bags. We start walking toward where the signs are pointing for a taxi, but hesitate at the sign that says “private cars and limos.” A brief conversation, and we decide to take a private car (it is my birthday, after all.) We walk outside and inquire about pricing. We agree and a car is called. The driver loads our bags and we get in the car. As we are buckling up, the driver asks “Where to?” To which I reply, “I don’t know.” The driver has a very perplexed look on his face as he turns to look at me. “It is my birthday and this is all a surprise to me.” The driver thought that was pretty cool, as Donna tells him we are headed to the Palms Casino. Oh man, I didn’t even think about the Palms! Another surprise revealed.
As we walk inside the front doors of the Palms, Donna asks if I know where VIP check in is located. I do, as when I was on our 2 Fat Cats in an RV trip with Chris, we went into the VIP area for check in. (You see, our connection to the Palms is a very good friend and fraternity brother of Chris’ is a big wig here.) I hold the door so Donna can enter into VIP. Just inside the door there are some comfy chairs and I am told to have a seat as Donna goes back to the desk to check in. I even take a picture of her up there checking in while I just sit back in the chairs all by myself, not checking in, not knowing what she is up to.
It doesn’t take long and we are headed up the elevator to our room. Donna has gotten us the Ivory Suite, the same room we stayed in the time we stayed here for Cody’s 21st birthday. It is a sizeable suite with a powder room and living room, a bedroom and bathroom. Lots of windows with great views. I now know we are staying until Monday so we take some time to unpack some of our things and get situated in the room. We decide to rest a bit and catch some of the world series game that is on. Donna’s phone is going crazy but it has been doing that for a couple weeks now leading up to the surprise party she threw me a few days ago. I doze off and on but I think Donna just answered messages and watched the game.
It isn’t long before we realize we are pretty hungry and head down to Nines, the steakhouse right there in the Palms. We enjoy an amazing dinner with a great bottle of wine. I think during dinner, she almost has me convinced it is just her and I for the long weekend. Almost, that is. I still have that sneaking suspicion others may show up.
Oh my gosh we are so very full. We sit chatting and enjoying the ambiance and each other for a long time, before deciding we needed to get up and move around before we no longer could, haha. We walk around the casino checking things out, scoping out what machines or tables we might want to play. We settle on the Sons of Anarchy slot machines. We probably played for about 45 minutes or so, before deciding it really wasn’t paying much so we wanted to try something else. We walk around a little more and decide on the “bubble craps” game. It is really called Shoot to Win Craps, but we call it bubble craps. There is only one available seat. Donna tells me to play and she will watch until a seat opens up.
I have been playing for about an hour when all of a sudden there is someone extremely close to my face and I hear a voice say “Are you winning any money?” I am not quite sure if I recognize the voice right away as I am more put off by someone being so close to my face! I turn slightly toward the voice to see Cody standing there, and right behind him Michael. See, I knew it, I was right, there will be other people here! I stand and give hugs. We chat for a bit and the boys says they are going to check in and get settled and then come back down.
I return to the bubble craps game and about 45 minutes later I again sense someone super close to my face and hear a voice say “Are you winning anything?” only this time it is a female voice, and as I turn to my right I see Donna’s good friend Valerie and behind her, her husband Dave. I stand and we exchange hugs. I look at Donna and tell her that she is playing a different game! You see I had suspicions that others might be joining us, but never would I have guessed that Valerie and Dave would come all the way from Virginia! Now I am back to not knowing what to expect.
We are joined by Cody and Michael and we all get a snack in the food court. We eat and talk for another hour or so before deciding we are all ready to call it a night. I can hardly believe the surprises so far as we head off to bed. I wonder what she has planned for tomorrow…
Thursday morning is a later morning since we were up so late with the surprise arrivals. We lounge around our suite and get ready for the day. Once we are ready, we head out with Valerie, Dave, Cody, and Michael to get some breakfast. We are all hungry, as it is almost lunch time. At our suggestion, we hail 2 cabs and head down to Harrah’s. Our plan is to grab some breakfast at Hash House A Go Go and then do some gambling at Harrah’s. Dave is itching to hit a poker table. We have walked almost all the way through Harrah’s when we remember that Hash House is next door at the Linq. We take the escalator up and discover quite the wait, but the food is good, the bloody marys are great, and we are hungry. I then realize I am a platinum member of Total Rewards and believe that gets us to the front of the line. SO I venture up to the special shorter line and show my card. The hostess informs me that they now only give priority to Diamond members, well darn. Must have been my dimpled smile and exuberate personality because she smiles and says, “but I am still going to do it. I have a diamond party of 6 right here and then I will seat you.” Woo hoo, front of the line. It doesn’t take long, perhaps 10 minutes, and we are seated at a huge booth. We chat so much the waitress comes back like 3 times before we order. The bloody marys are a wonderful start to the day and our stomachs are full as we head back to Harrah’s.
Doesn’t take but half a tour of the casino floor and Dave has found a poker room, so he and I take off. I guess the girls along with Cody and Michael will find their own fun for a while. Dave asked the guy if there were any cash games. We were told not yet, but if we wanted to check in and have a seat he assured us it wouldn’t be long before one started. Dave and I checked in, got our numbers, and took a seat at a table. We immediately bought in with the dealer and our chips were brought out. It seemed like once our chips were delivered, the table was full! Now the fun can begin. It was small bets, so I really didn’t win or lose. I had pocket Aces and an Ace was turned over one hand and another hand, I had pocket deuces and a deuce was turned over and between the two hands I think I won like twelve dollars! We were having fun, playing poker, shooting the breeze, and talking football. A few hours into it, I shoot a text to Donna telling her I can be done at any time, realizing two things: I need to take a “little boys room” break, and that I have no idea if my wife is having fun or bored stiff waiting for me. I should know better, she always has fun! I don’t get a text back so I continue on with the game.
A few more hands and the gentlemen next to me says, “ Don’t look now, but I think the Commander is here.” I glance his way with a puzzled look, and he then says, “Over your left shoulder there is a woman staring at you through the glass,” to which I responded, “Oh, probably my wife, huh?” He laughed and said, “That would be my guess.” I turned to see Donna smiling at me. She points to her watch and mouths the words, “How about now?” I finish up the hand and tip the dealer, and excuse myself from the game. Dave stayed. I come out of the room and give my honey a kiss. She explains she left everyone back by a poker machine they were playing. I tell her I really need to go to the restroom, and she exhales deeply and loudly (you husbands know that sound) and says “Well run then!” I go off in the opposite direction at a speed walk pace, cuz that is what the “commander” said.
I return to find Donna right where I left her and still not the rest of our group. She asks about the poker game as we begin to walk in the direction of where she said she left every one. I am still talking about poker when some guy sticks his head out from behind a pillar and says, “I heard you won some money.” As I turned toward the voice, I did a double, maybe triple take, as there was no way my brain was accepting what my eyes were seeing. There standing before me was Shawn Mandel, holy mackerel!
I haven’t seen this man in near 30 years! We were Navy Corpsman serving with the Marines together during the Panama War, Operation Just Cause. Shawn stepped closer and we embraced, then stepped back and looked at each other. Then we embraced again and the tears rolled. Not sure how my wife pulled this off, but WOW. It probably only took a few minutes but it seemed an eternity for us to compose ourselves, and he introduced me to his lovely wife Cynthia. Donna obviously had already met them as did Valerie, Cody, and Michael. We stood a few more minutes in jaw dropping awe chatting and hugging and chatting and laughing. Then as a group we decide to head up to Toby Keith’s Bar and Grill to grab a beer and have a chance to catch up. WOW, I still can’t believe Shawn is here, right here, with me, in Vegas!
We order some beers and Shawn and I continue to catch up. We are deep in conversation, so intense it has us both in tears again, Okay, me mostly, but his eyes looked a little full too. I catch movement out of the corner of my tear-filled eye and turn slightly to now see standing beside our table, my brother Scott and his wife Kerri and my good friend Robert and his wife Michelle. I have no idea what they thought as I dried my tears, smile and hug them all. I give a quick OMG glance to my wife. They join us at our table and we order some appetizers to share and of course more beers. What a great time.
We were having so much fun the bartender kept coming out to our table and chatting with us, offering to take pictures for us and some of himself! Dave did eventually break away from the poker room and join us upstairs for beers. We were ready to leave and Dave still had a full beer or was it Valerie’s beer that was full? Either way Dave couldn’t walk away and leave it there so he began to drink, and it didn’t take long for our entire group to begin chanting “CHUG, CHUG, CHUG.” And that is just what Dave did, the entire beer down the hatch. This would become the joke when Dave and leftover food and drink were around.
Not sure what time we finally left Toby Keith’s, but we all headed back over to the Palms. Both Shawn and Robert had driven over to Harrah’s so no need for taxis going back, between the two cars there is room for all of us. Looks like the other car was having more fun than us!
We claim the large horseshoe shaped booth in the lobby bar just inside the doors at the Palms and order drinks. Shawn, Dave, and I head over to check out the blackjack tables and leave everyone else hanging out in the bar. We settled on a blackjack table about 30 feet from where our group is sitting in the bar so they can see us. Dave is watching as Shawn and I play when I hear a voice to my left that almost sounds familiar “Anyone sitting here? Mind if I buy in?” The guy is on the other side of Shawn so I wasn’t paying much attention but something told me to look up. You know my wife has been crazy with the surprises, so who knows, I might just know the guy!
Sure enough, it is our oldest son Chris. I can hardly believe my eyes and as I turn to my left I now catch a glimpse of his wife Rachel standing behind me. So happy, and yes, surprised, to see these kids. With their recent move to Texas, I didn’t think it possible they would be able to be on the list of those popping up at every turn to surprise me. Hugs are exchanged, Chris joins our table, and Rachel goes to join the others in the bar. For the next couple hours we switch tables, some of us take a break from playing to say hi to our group at the bar or find the nearest restroom. Eventually we leave the tables, I don’t think anyone was really up or down, but we had fun. We join what is left of our group in the lobby bar, to discover some headed off to get something to eat. We ended up joining them at Hooters right there inside the Palms. We have a table big enough for all of us and we are attempting to order beers. We seem to have confused the server. We ask a couple of questions about wings, mostly to do with how hot some of them were, before placing our orders. We laughed so much I think the entire place was staring at us. Good friends, this is what life is all about. The night or is it early morning is winding down when Dave asks why Valerie wasn’t eating the rest of her wings. She explained they were much hotter than expected. I do agree they were pretty hot. As I said before, Dave doesn’t like leaving food or beer, so he begins to eat the wings. He is attempting to finish them all, but he has discovered they are pretty freaking hot. He is slowing consuming the wings between gulps of beer and water, but manages to clear the plate! At some point while we all watch Dave eat, I believe there was a faint, ever so quiet, chant of CHUG CHUG CHUG being sung. What an amazing day, and we are all off to bed. Hugs all around. I am so happy from today’s events but oh so very tired at the same time. Doesn’t take me long to be sound asleep dreaming of what tomorrow can possibly hold.
Friday morning I wake up wondering “Could she still have more surprises? Is this everyone?” It is all so overwhelming I can’t imagine what else there could be We are showered and ready for the day, well after asking if what I have on is appropriate as I have no idea what we are doing or where we are going! We go downstairs and head over to the cafe. We grab a muffin and coffee, wel,l tea for my lovely bride, and run into some of our group at a table in the cafe. Once we have our food, we join them. Some have already eaten, some order something but we all have great conversation. Slowly people, couples, groups leave the table and head off to either finish getting ready for the day or do some gambling with a plan to all meet near the front doors at 12:30 p.m. Another surprise?
I am not sure where or when my wife has time to coordinate all the surprises that are happening, but can I just say wow again. She must be exhausted.
We are greeted at the front doors by a party bus limo. We are all on board when Shawn and I spot the stripper pole. Oh, you guessed it, we had to make use of that right away!
As the bus pulls up to a stop and we begin to unload, I realize where we are: my favorite lunch spot, the best burgers in Las Vegas and cheap beers, yep, Stripburger! 
I have exited the bus and am standing around while Donna and Chris talk to the driver and everyone else is getting off. I happened to glance in front of the bus and a thought pops into my head. You see, the young man getting a suitcase out of a taxi in front of the bus reminds me a lot of our nephew Hayden. The group is ready to walk around the corner to the restaurant and I am beginning to tell Donna about the young man I saw, when we all put run over the people who were getting suitcases out of the taxi. Much to my surprise, it registers with my brain that is my brother-in-law Larry standing there! Oh my gosh, and there is Doc, aka sister-in-law Leslie and THAT IS HAYDEN! How cool is this. Their flight just got in and they are joining us for lunch. We all continue on and make our way up to our reserved area on the patio. As people start taking their seats, I spot Peter and Laurie Nerat sitting at one of our tables. Another awesome surprise. As we are all taking seats and I am trying my best not to ignore anyone, I am hugging and chatting with the most recent arrivals. We have a special menu for just our group that says Happy Birthday on it. People have begun ordering their drinks and trying to decide what to eat when in walks Penny. Penny and I have been friends for more than 30 years, we go way back. She lives here in Las Vegas now, but she had posted on Facebook that she was headed to San Diego this weekend, she is good! As I am chatting with Penny and introducing her around, Fatman walks in. Fatman aka Robert and I went to school together in Nebraska! This is just unbelievable. I am not sure I remember what I ate, but I did have a few beers, 32 oz PBRs are only $6 here. As we are placing our food order, Jake appears. Jake is Chris’ friend from college and the one who hooked Donna up with group rates for everyone staying at the Palms. We very much enjoy Jake and getting to spend time with him, so this is a pleasure seeing him show up for my birthday. All I can think of to say is WOW. I remember relaying to Jake that this group spans my entire life so far. Family that has been around since birth, friends from grade school through high school, my military days, my adult life during the military, and after all the way to recently made friends.
It is Friday, so several of us are wearing our R.E.D. (Remember Everyone Deployed) and several of us have served our country so there are tons of pictures being taken. The food was good and I know my wife probably agonized over what to have on the menu so that everyone would be happy, that is just the person she is, but the friendships stole the limelight. What a great time.
Slowly, little bits at a time people begin to leave. Some are headed back to get checked in at the Palms, some are heading off to meet friends, some are headed home to take care of kids, some are going sightseeing or to do some gambling, and a small group of us head over to the Wynn across the street. Donna and I love the Wynn and we love to gamble there. Donna realized that not everyone would have been able to come, or come for as long if she choose to stay there this weekend. So we venture over to enjoy the ambiance and do a little gambling. Donna and I played a new to us slot machine that was Aladin based. It was new and fun and exciting because Donna won a couple hundred dollars! Robert and I checked out the craps tables, Chris and I checked out the blackjack tables, and Donna and I played more slots. Our small group dwindles down as couples head back to the Palms. We decide we should head back as well and hook up with some of group who are sitting at “our” booth in the lobby bar as we entered the doors back at the Palms. We are drinking and laughing and conversing with friends when Chris suckers me into joining him at the 3-card poker table. Long story to that game, but it was against my better judgement to play that game, and it proved me right again. I leave the table at one point for a time out to the restroom and on the way back to the table I see some of my family that I hadn’t seen yet. I decided not to ruin the surprise, not to ruin whatever they have planned as their way to surprise me, so I take the long walk and look the opposite way, to get back toward the table I was gambling at. I am almost to the table when I hear my sister Melanie say, “Oh hey.” I look up surprised to see my sister and her husband and my mom along with my niece Jennifer and her daughter Evelyn.
We exchange hugs as they explain they are starving and headed to find somewhere to eat. I return to find Chris still at the 3-card poker table so I join back in. I hear laughter from the bar area every once in awhile and turn to see what kind of fun our group is having over there without me. It is during one of these glances that another surprise arrives. As I am turning to look at our group over in the bar, coming toward me, almost at the table I am at, are John and Laura Dodd. Another amazing surprise.
I stand and hug and chat for a little bit and they head off to join the group in the bar. Shortly after that, someone has placed their hands over my eyes. I reach up and touch the hands and say “Hmmmm,” to which I get no response. I feel the hands and say “It’s a lady,” to which the hands nod my head up and down in the yes motion. I feel the hands again and say “It’s a married lady,” to which again my head is moved in the yes motion. “Is it Penny?” This is so totally something Penny would do. This time my head is moved side to side in the no response. I am not getting any closer to knowing who it is and the dealer is probably a bit peeved about now waiting for me to place my bet. I grab the hands and pull them off my eyes while saying, “Hey, I need to place my bet,” to discover my little sister and her husband. Again, wow, so happy to see them. At this point, I cash out and go with my sister to join everyone in the bar area. Michelle and Jeff say their hellos, but head off to find dinner with the rest of my family.
It is late, and we all realize we haven’t had any dinner, so Donna walks over to the asian restaurant to ask if they can accommodate all of us, as I think there are now 20 who are hungry and wanting to eat. Not sure if it is a good sign or bad sign that they can get us all in. Shortly after, we are all seated, in walks Debra and her new beau Nick. Hugs and introductions all around. I remember thinking, I wonder if Deb and Nick will be comfortable down there. You see, there are so many of us and it keeps growing that they are kind of at a weird angle at the end of the table next to people they really don’t know. The food was pretty good and it definitely satisfied our hunger. During our late night dinner, there is someone approaching the table with a cupcake with a lighted candle on it. Everyone at our table is watching, when I realize it is our friends Todd and Karla! They already ate, but wanted to say Happy Birthday. Oh my gosh, this is so unreal, so many friends. Todd and Karla don’t stay long, and we all return to our dinner.
After dinner, many of our group calls it a night and heads off to do their own thing or turn in for the night. Shawn and Cynthia along with his sister and brother-in-law are saying their goodbyes as they are catching an early morning flight. I can’t believe Shawn was actually here, I am so blessed by getting this time together and now he is leaving already. I will miss them the rest of the weekend and I do hope we can hold true to our promise to see each other again soon. At this point, Donna tells me she is toast and done for the night. I remind her that my sister Michelle is on her way down to meet up with us. Donna tells me to stay and enjoy some time with my little sis. I ask her if she is sure? Does she want me to walk her up to the room? Nope, all good, she will take the elevator up with Chris and Rachel. Most everyone is gone, some say they are coming back down, John and Laura say they are going to gamble, and I wait for Michelle to arrive.
Michelle and I each get a drink and we walk the casino floor. We are just chatting and checking out the casino, looking at the different games and slots and keeping an eye out for John and Laura. After about our second pass of the casino floor, we still haven’t found them so we take “our” table in the lobby bar. As Michelle and I sit and chat, there is a loud group at the bar and Michelle leans over and says, “Hey I think that is Mexico Christie.” I respond with, “I knew that girl at the end look familiar, that is Christie’s daughter?” At this point they realize we are looking at them, and Christie stumbles over toward us. In her drunkenness, she is loudly telling me, “Tracey Hayden if you don’t drink this shot for your birthday you are an F’ing loser!” Yikes. Before we can drink the shots, one is spilled all over Michelle. I drink the remaining shot in hopes to keep things quiet and respectable. Shortly thereafter, Christie and entourage left the bar.
I have now probably told Michelle that I was going to bed 3 or 4 times to which she insists I must stay up and spend time with her. Another half hour or so goes by and I figure out why she is so insistent on keeping me down here. From over the wall behind me, suddenly someone is flicking my ear. I turn and there stands my good buddy Lumm, the big stinky Lummox, Mark. I hug him over the wall and he comes to join Michelle and I at our table.
Lumm and Michelle hug and chat briefly when Michelle turns to me and states she is off to bed because she is tired. I reply with a “No way, I stayed up for you,” to which she responds “Haha, this is the only reason I stayed down here, waiting for Lumm,” and off to bed she went. Mark and I remained in the bar another hour and a half or so before we drunkenly called it a night. I enter our room and try to be as quiet as possible because my lovely wife is actually asleep! Good night all.
Saturday morning, okay later morning, early afternoon, I am feeling my age. I awake to a note left by my wife telling me she went down to get some breakfast so I get ready, and head downstairs to the cafe. As I am arriving. some of our group is leaving. They point me in the direction of where the group is sitting. As I approach the table, my momma is leaving. I ask her where my dad is and she tells me he isn’t feeling very well. I ask her if she knows who that is sitting with Donna and she says she was introduced to him. Again, I ask her if she KNOWS who he is and she says she does not. Mark and I have been friends since I was 19 and he had traveled home with me to visit my family before. She is shocked to say the least. Everyone is coming and going and eating to best fit their schedules and whatever they have planned or want to do for the day. This group is so diverse, but everyone is so self-sufficient and seems that everyone is getting along and getting to know each other.
Donna and I sit and chat with Mark for quite a while before he heads off to take a nap. Donna and I play a few slots before heading up to take naps ourselves. We just can’t party like rock stars anymore.
This time I awake from my nap to an empty room and find a note telling me she had some things to take care of. Ummmm, what more could there possibly be! It is quite a while before she comes back to the room. Evidently mum is still the word as she doesn’t elaborate on where she has been. She does say there has been a slight change in plans so I need to get up and get ready for the night. The night? It is only like 3:30pm. But I do like the Commander says and get ready, as does she. It is just about 4 now and she places her scarf around my eyes like a blindfold. Oooooo ,I do not like this. What is worse than being blindfolded? Being blindfolded and walking? Being blindfolded, walking, and getting on an elevator? Remind me to tell you one day about my fear or total dislike of elevators. Since my wife already knows that story, she leaves the blindfold off when I promise to focus on her and not pay attention to where we are or where we are going. I am trying not to look around, just look at her, counting on her to not lead me astray or make me look stupid. When we stop, I realize we are getting on yet another elevator. Okay now I am blindfolded, walking, just rode another elevator and have no idea where I am or where I am going. Donna is kind enough to walk slowly and guides pretty well once I remind her I can’t see so she needs to talk as she walks. Did I mention she has packed a suitcase and is dragging it along with us?
It is not a very long walk and I hear a door open. Suddenly, I am hearing TV noise and she is removing my blindfold.
WHOA, I think I said it outloud as well as thought it. I am just inside the door, in front of me is a full blown bar, to my right is a pool table and to my left 2 bowling lanes. Floor to ceiling windows line the two walls across from me. People are yelling “surprise!” I begin to look around and now see a few faces. I check out the bar, and the bowling area, and then move to the pool table where John and Laura are in the thick of a game. Chris is showing me the bedroom, gigantic bedroom behind the wall, where the pool table is. The bedroom has huge windows with amazing views and a mind blowing bathroom. I can barely take it all in when he tells me this is not even the master bedroom, WHAT!!!! As we walk back out to the main room, he points across the bowling lanes and says the master is over there. I head that way to check it out. Donna has put our suitcase in this room and is sticking a note on the door to keep people out of the room. I return to the main room where there are 7 TVs with the Husker game on, 7, did you get that, 7 TVs. This is amazing.
I want to watch the game so badly, but I don’t want to be rude to my guests, so I do my best to mingle while trying to watch the game. I remember bowling at some point, eating and drinking throughout the night, and lots and lots of people everywhere. I later found out that the suite was for a surprise party for me on Saturday night, but once Donna discovered the Husker game was at 4 and not going to be over in time for us to get back to the surprise party, she invited everyone who wanted to come early to the suite and watch the game with me. So around 7, just as the game was getting over more and more people arrived. I did my best to spend time with each and every person there, as it meant the world they made the trip for my birthday. I did a shot with my brother and sisters; Scott, Melanie, Michelle and I always do a shot of something when the 4 of us are together, this time I believe it was Fireball.
Sometime around 8 or 9, in through the suite door walks Chewbacca! I knew right away it was Lumm. That dude wore that wookie costume all night! He had a speaker to play wookie sounds and a straw to enable him to drink all night long. I remember being upset because Kerri was missing out on the party and my mom and dad were not here. Come to find out, my dad had taken some medication he should not have, and he knew better, and had to be taken to urgent care. Well, mom didn’t want to go alone, so Kerri went with them. I remember thinking more than once that Deb and her new boyfriend needed to get a room, and not our room! I just mingled around, taking it all in and trying to spend time with each and every person there. I don’t remember many details, but I know I was overwhelmed, so forgive me if I left out things you remember (you can always leave comments on the blog here to things you remember.)
As the night wore on, slowly people started saying their goodbyes and heading out. A couple people helped Donna clean up a bit as I sat and chatted with Lumm, he was pretty wasted by this time. Eventually it was just Donna, me, and yep you guessed it, Lumm. I kept trying to walk him towards the door, but he kept wanting another drink. Then he was ready to leave, but wanted me to carry his wookie costume. I desperately search for a bag to put the costume in to no avail. I finally got him out the door with the promise to guard the costume with my life until the next day. And that was all she wrote for that night, whew.
Sunday morning, we sleep late and rush to get things gathered and cleaned up in the Kingpin Suite. Cody and Michael are heading home this morning, and since they are driving, we are sending coolers and gifts and booze home with them. We made them promise the booze would ALL make it to our house LOL. As we are finishing loading the bell cart with coolers and stuff, the maids have arrived so we are scrambling to make sure we got all of our belongings and are not leaving anything of importance behind. We take our things back to the Ivory Suite, where we will stay for one last night, and then head down to breakfast in the cafe. Friends and family are coming and going, some eating, some just chatting, some going to gamble, some to sightsee, and some headed home. It is already late morning, almost afternoon, and the football games have begun. Donna has reserved a private area upstairs at Hooters for all of us to watch the Denver Broncos game. The rest of the afternoon was spent saying goodbye to good friends and family, watching our Broncos win, and enjoying beer and snacks.
Now it is down to Chris and Rachel, Robert and Michelle, and Donna and I. We head over to the Wynn for some gambling. We win some and lose some on the slots. Chris watches his beloved Cowboys from the sports book. Late evening, we decide we are hungry and venture over to Buddy Vi’s at the Palazzo for some dinner. We can see a TV from our table, can’t hear it, but Chris can finish watching his game. We enjoy some amazing food, way too much food. I think Chris hadn’t quite recovered from last night’s shenanigans and just watched us all eat our dinners. We said our goodbyes as we returned to the Palms as everyone was leaving at different times in the morning.
We returned home Monday midday totally exhausted but so excited to see our Peanut after school. What an unforgettable week long celebration of, well, me! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that came to celebrate with me in any way. Definitely not something that will soon be forgotten. What a whirlwind week, I apologize if I forgot to mention you or something that happened. If that is the case, I would love for you to comment here on the blog and add things you remember! (Well, maybe not everything you remember, LOL!) 50 is not so bad!